After meeting with the lung transplant team, we decided to move ahead with the testing necessary to be listed for transplants. My numbers recovered a bit from the downturn in April but everyone agreed that one good pneumonia this winter would probably push me into the transplant range.
I will be ready.
August 8 - Urologist
A very smart doctor met with me to investigate my endless UTI problems (turned out to be untreatable as the symptom-free ones are typical in older women), which precluded me from saving 24 hours of urine for the Lung Transplant Clinic's testing on August 9. I called the coordinator and we figured it all out.
August 9 - Testing for Lung Transplants and a Heart Catheterization
It began by leaving the house at 5:45 to make my way into the city for blood tests and to turn in my stool sample kit. Early. No coffee or food as I was a having a test later in the morning, which needed to be completed on an empty stomach.
8:00 - Quantitative Lung Ventilation Perfusion Scan
Ha! Say that 10 times! A lovely technician gave me a shot of radiation from a lead syringe then photos were taken for five minutes as it moved through my lungs.
9:00 - New Patient Consultation
I was greeted like an old friend to the Heart and Vascular Center as they use much of the same staff as the Lung Transplant Clinic. After an EKG, a doctor whom I had seen hanging around the hospital came very gently into the room. He apologized as he had wrenched his back. I made a joke and we laughed. A very nice cardiologist. He was answering questions and preparing me for the Cardio Cath, which was to take place the following week. He said it appeared that my heart was good as all the functions were normal. Good news. We had another laugh when he said he hoped never to see me again!
10:30 - Abdominal Ultrasound
The technician and I really enjoyed the experience, had a great conversation mostly about kids and where she grew up in a large family. She was also excellent and I was finished within 25-minutes. I read the results a few days later.
COFFEE
Delicious. Now I had to wait for the 1:00 appointment. I hung out, chatted with people, watch as the world walked by then headed to lunch.
1:00 - Carotid Artery Ultrasound
I showed up early and she was available. Love that. It was a well-seasoned technician. I have been well trained to never ask about the results of any tests from the techs. After she was done, I said, "It sounded good but what do I know?" She replied, "You have no problem. It's clear." That felt great and it was confirmed a few days later.
I crawled home where Michael and British Don were waiting for me. We had an early dinner and I fell into bed at 7:00. Done.
August 11 - 24-Hour Urine Collection
That was fun. AND it had to be refrigerated.
August 12 - Drive Back to the City
It was another early morning drive to the lab to give them my sample and to have my creatine level tested.
August 13 - Left and Right Heart Catheterization
Nervous. Again with no food or coffee, we had to check into the hospital at a very early 7AM then we were directed up a few floors to the pre-op for the procedure. Wonderful people there. Great nurses, Residents, Doctors. I had exceptional care and these people were running a well-oiled machine. The nurse opened a line into my wrist and elbow for the equipment to go up and into my arteries and heart. I had been recently diagnosed with the beginning stage of pulmonary hypertension just a month earlier and this test would reveal the exact level of the disease. I had felt very blessed not to have this sooner, though I have been checked for it every two years.
We had a problem finding the right vein in the elbow and she felt it was not going to be good enough. She was right. She prepared me for the entire procedure to be accessed at my groin, something rarely done these days. Shaving! When they were ready, I walked into this amazing room with a table under a machine surrounded by monitors. "So this is where the magic happens," I said. All six people in the room laughed!
The surgeon arrived and we chatted a bit. Everyone seemed relaxed and happy, just the way I wanted it. It began. The two surgeons began and ran into a problem not only with the elbow but also with the wrist. Apparently, I have very small veins and arteries. I could hear them considering the groin and said, "Plan B, Gentlemen?" They said they had tried as it was a much easier recovery but they just couldn't get it done so into the groin we went. I was beginning to feel things so they gave me 5 mg of fentanyl. HAPPY. They were so impressed that I didn't need the other two pain drugs.
Finally, done and the surgeon said, "No pulmonary hypertension and no blockages!"
Music to my ears. We can move forward with the transplant process.
Everyone left except two people. They removed the tools from my groin and all of the sudden I hear her scream: HEMATOMA!!! People came running. She asked one to bring her a stool so she could get her full weight on my groin. She was trying to press it to break it up and spread it around. Finally, a guy took her place as she had worked really hard for some time. It appeared as a big bruise. It currently is from the left pubic bone to the right hip. It is massive but no pain as they broke it up. The down side is that I had to stay in the hospital for 5 hours at a 30 degree angle to insure the bleeding stopped.
The sweetest thing happened as I was being wheeled back to the recovery room. The nurses told me I was the nicest patient they have ever had. My nurse asked what I had done before I got sick plus I mentioned I was a classical musician. I was very touched. As Michael and I were walking out of the upstairs recovery area five hours later, we were hugged by that recovery nurse and another nurse from the operating room, who we ran into on our way to the elevator. Makes you feel good. Makes you feel like you have made a connection, human-to-human.
August 14 - Annual Dermatology Inspection
It was time for the full body inspection. Let the burning begin! She burned off several things bothering me but she also spotted a basil cell bump on my shoulder. She removed it, it was very deep and will take about 6-months to heal, if they don't need to take more off after the biopsy report. I'll find out in just over a week.
MOM
What I have not mentioned is that on August 7, my mom got off balance and fell into a pole. She didn't tell me until August 12. I wanted her to get X-rays but she said she was fine. Well, she was not fine and drove herself the next day. Several ribs fractures on her right side. She was in severe pain, I phoned her primary doctor for pain meds and she was in rough shape.
She phoned us while at the dermatologist wanting us to pick up the pain meds. So, at rush hour, we drove from the city south to her town and delivered her medication. The usual 25-minute drive home was almost an hour, I was exhausted from the Cardio CATH the day before. We had made a deal for me to see her Thursday to take her food shopping. I was not supposed to lift anything over 5 pounds and she had broken ribs. A good pair.
Shopping was fine but when I dropped her off at the elevator to get the large hand cart to haul the groceries to her apartment, I kept waiting and waiting for he to return. Something was wrong. One of the managers came to the car to say hello, I told him about mom fracturing her ribs and at that moment, she arrived. Something was very wrong. She was covered in blood with a massive stream coming from a large gash above her right eye. She had fallen on her face! At that moment, Michael phoned. I must have been in shock as he said, "I'll be right there." The manager watched our groceries as I walked her up to her apartment. We cleaned her up but she was bleeding a lot. Michael arrived and took control. Back to Immediate Care! He picked up some lunch for us (it was now 1:00 and we were starving) and met us there. He is always so good with her.
After many stitches, she was shaken when we finally got her home around 5PM. I later learned that her knee was bothering her and a finger was swollen. We are going back on Sunday at 11:00 to have the gash checked to insure there is no infection then again on Tuesday to have the stitches removed.
My fear is that she is not breathing well and I worry about pneumonia. Her big 91st birthday party is today, my sister and her entire family are coming down for lunch and mom is embarrassed by her black eye. We will have a rather quiet lunch and wonderful cupcakes.
It has been one heck of a month. I hope the worst is over.
